Alien426 Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 verbs: Used in Maniac Mansion (15 verbs), Day Of The Tentacle (9), Zak McKracken (14), Monkey Island 1 (12), Monkey Island 2 (9), Indy 3 (12), Indy 4 (9) context menu: Used in Curse Of Monkey Island (coin) and Full Throttle (tattoo). mouse pointer: Used in Sam & Max (cycle through actions) and The Dig (examine, action). keyboard: Used in Grim Fandango and Escape From Monkey Island. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshi Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 I went for the mouse pointer. Whilst the other have their charms (my second choice would probably be the context menu), I loved the simplicity of the simple mouse pointer (I'm swaying more towards The Dig and The Longest Journey here as they were simply interact and examine) as it makes things slightly less tedious (no need to try out every verb on everything in the hope of finding a solution) and gives you more time to focus on the story and puzzels when you're stuck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrik Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 I'm partial to any kind of hotspot-based system really, although I definitely prefer the context menus to verbs as not only is a lot of superfluous and uninspiring trial and error cut out, but there's also more likely to be more custom responses due to there only being three to fill per item. Although less of a problem in the text days, it can become a bit unrealistic with actual voices to record a custom line for every verb for every object. With the three-prong context menu, chances are that you'll get a set of custom responses for everything, which is of course good. I still prefer the context menus on a strictly functional basis too, though. It's nice to be able to bring up the menu right there and then over an item instead of having to scuttle back down to choose the right verb. It also seems a bit more intuitive, with more vague actions; I don't really get a kick out of deciding whether “pushing” or “using” an item is more appropriate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Jones Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 Verbs are great, I really enjoyed them. And the mouse cursor was cool, too, but it appears somewhat annoying to me, as I tend to switch always one action too far. And seriously keyboard control in EMI was like trying to steer a car without a wheel. Context menu all the way, I say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien426 Posted May 16, 2006 Author Share Posted May 16, 2006 Well, I chose the context menu, too. The overkill on verbs in the early adventures was surely the remnant of old text adventures where the parser had to be very tolerant to different verbs. But even the 12 of MI were still too many. On the other hand, the single action of The Dig seemed to result in unexpected stuff sometimes. With the context menu you know what to expect, but are not flooded with choices. And like Thrik said, it's nice to have those choices at hand in an instant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshi Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 Well, I chose the context menu, too. The overkill on verbs in the early adventures was surely the remnant of old text adventures where the parser had to be very tolerant to different verbs. But even the 12 of MI were still too many. One of the failings of Maniac Mansion (well, not really a failing, it was SCUMM in it's earliest stage, you have to let it go) was the fact that you had 15 verbs and they had to be used with each other, upping the number of possible moves on a single object or person. And yeah, I get your point on the mouse pointer in The Dig, but later games did employ it slightly better (giving action to a double click as well as right click and single click). I can't really fight for it, though, I just prefer it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Udvarnoky Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 One of the failings of Maniac Mansion (well, not really a failing, it was SCUMM in it's earliest stage, you have to let it go) was the fact that you had 15 verbs and they had to be used with each other, upping the number of possible moves on a single object or person. Explain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peff Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 What is the thingy in broken sword III called ?? the.. interferce (or whatever you call it :] ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshi Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 Explain? No Actually didn't we already have this argument conversation? Actually I was dead wrong, but nevermind. 15 verbs was still a lot for the day. peff, the BSIII interface was technically keyboard (although an interesting use of it) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samnmax221 Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 love the context menu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Udvarnoky Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 No Actually didn't we already have this argument conversation? Sort of, I never did figure out what you meant by using two verbs at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshi Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 That's again, probably because I was talking out of my... mouth which was saying wrong things. It was ages ago when I played MM and me in my old age, do get confused sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Jones Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 Pfft. Less cheeba could easily do the trick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krakko Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Context menu... the coin in CMI was so easy to use, and looked cool too The keyboard in EMI was the worst, cycling through all the actions... took me a while before i even figured out you had to use the page up/down keys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabez Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 My favourite adventure game interface is probably Discworld Noir's... just seemed to make so much sense. I think left click was walk/use and right click was look. Very simple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshi Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 So, the mouse pointer then. The Dig had a very similar interface, as did many other games back then and yes, it was very simple, which is why I chose it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elTee Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 Dreamfall's kind of annoys me. So I have to look at the item, focus on it, open the inventory and then click the 'use' icon... Still, a great game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smon Posted June 8, 2006 Share Posted June 8, 2006 The context menu was great but the verb commands had keyboard shortcuts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atanhel Posted June 9, 2006 Share Posted June 9, 2006 I peronally liked the verbs a lot, since they made you think so much out of the box. Back in MI 1, when you had to open the cereal box... I can't remeber ever seen such a puzzle in any of the later games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urluckyday Posted June 11, 2006 Share Posted June 11, 2006 While Grim Fandango's set up was amazing, I'd have to go old school with the verbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MI1_Guybrush Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 Old school verbs for me too! So simple and fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben31 Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 Verb for me. Brought up on Simon the Sorcerer and Monkey Island does that to a guy. Never liked any other things really - keyboard is definately the worst like in EfMI. Mouse pointer isn't the best but is definately bearable like i think in Broken Sword but then i didnt like it in Sam n Max. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faceNside Posted August 15, 2006 Share Posted August 15, 2006 I preferred verbs, which gave u a total freedom feeling, though context menu is obviously more intuitive, mainly for beginners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herman Toothdecay Posted October 24, 2006 Share Posted October 24, 2006 Sort of, I never did figure out what you meant by using two verbs at the same time. Well... in MM, you had 15 verbs, yes? If you were to have to use 2 verbs to form a command, there is in theory possibly 15x15 (225) unique combinations of verbs. With so many verb options with the number of items in the game, it made it difficult at times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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